A/N: Ok not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I finally got one out. To many distractions in my life right now. Mostly in the form of video games (playing or watching.) And since I wrote part of this while watching a stream one of my favorite streamers makes a small cameo. HEHE

Seriously if you are on twitch check out JoJoSolos cause she's freaking awesome and funny.

Chapter 42

With a hand in the air, a smile stole over Clarke's face as she again studied her ring. It had only been a couple hours, but she still couldn't believe they were actually engaged. She was going to marry the love of her life. She leaned over the console and placed a quick kiss to Lexa's cheek, earning a smile in return.

The newly engaged couple and their daughter had decided to go out to dinner to celebrate everything that had happened that day. Lexa had volunteered to drive so that she could become more familiar with the area she would now be calling home. When they were stopped at a light, Lexa reached for Clarke's hand, entwining their fingers. She gave a quick kiss to their clasped hands before laying them in her lap.

Avery for her part had been watching her moms from the back seat with a smile on her face. Her Mama was finally home, and she even got to call her Mama now. This was like the best day ever. Seeing how happy her mom was now just made everything better.

Clarke directed Lexa towards the restaurant they had decided on. The Griffin girls were both craving pasta, so they had decided on a local favorite. Clarke had been coming to Pasta Brick with her parents since she was in elementary school. They served not only pasta, but their brick-oven pizzas were delicious.

They only had to wait fifteen minutes before they were being led to a booth. Avery slid in on one side and Clarke on the other leaving Lexa standing there looking torn.

"Mama, sit next to me," Avery pleaded. Lexa threw a quick look in Clarke's direction and received a subtle nod.

Lexa slid in the booth next to Avery and pulled the girl into her side for a moment with a smile. She didn't know why she had been so scared before. Hearing Avery call her 'mama' gave her such a thrill. She never thought it would feel this good to be someone's mom.

"Good Evening. I'm JoJo and I'll be your waitress tonight. Can I get you something to drink?" she asked as she handed them each a menu.

"Can I get a chocolate milk?" Avery asked, looking between her mom and the waitress.

"That sounds good, I'll have one of those too," Lexa answered instead.

"Make that three," Clarke finished for them. They did after all have very good chocolate milk here.

"All right. I'll get those put in right away. I'll be back to take your order shortly."

The three girls began perusing the menu as she walked away. "Get whatever you want," Clarke told Avery. Her daughter was at that age where sometimes she wanted to order off the kids' menu, but other times she wanted the adult menu. Clarke preferred to allow Avery to make her own decisions.

Clarke already knew what she wanted to get. It was definitely her favorite here. "I'm going for the baked ziti. It's fantastic," she told Lexa.

Lexa found it on the menu and read the description. It did sound good she had to admit, but she was craving some good lasagna. "I'm looking more at that three-cheese lasagna."

"Also, a good choice. But to be honest I haven't found one thing here I didn't like," Clarke added.

"I'm getting the spaghetti," Avery stated. "The one with the cheese garlic bread."

Clarke nodded, knowing what Avery was saying. The spaghetti on the kids' menu only came with a vegetable, but the adult one also came with a choice of breads. "What vegetable do you want?"

Avery thought about it for a minute. "I want the corn." Sometimes she liked to mix it in with the spaghetti. Either way was good to her though.

Their drinks come and their orders are put in soon after, leaving them to just catch up. They spent the time until their food came talking about all the things that had happened to any of them while they'd been separated. For Avery that mostly meant any book she'd read recently, with a few stories about time with her friends.

"Since you're here now, are you coming to back-to-school night?" Avery asked after their food had arrived and they began to eat.

That caught Lexa a little off guard. She'd never actually been to one of those before. Growing up how she did, nobody had ever even bothered to take her. Seeing how excited Avery was at the prospect, she knew what her answer had to be.

"Of course. When is it?"

"Monday night, right mom?"

Clarke looked at her daughter, and then to Lexa. She couldn't decipher the look on her fiancé's face. Lexa would be starting at her new job that day. It might be to much for the other woman. "Yeah, it's Monday at six. But sweetheart, Lexa is starting her new job that day."

Both women saw the disappointment on Avery's face with that one simple sentence. Lexa admitted to herself it would be a lot for one day, but she couldn't deny Avery anything if she could avoid it. "Your mom is right, I do have to start my new job, but I should be off by then. So, it should be alright."

"Are you sure?" Clarke asked softly. She didn't want to push, but she also didn't want Lexa to feel guilty if she couldn't make it.

"Yes, it's fine. I will probably mostly be filling out all the paperwork that comes from a new job and getting to know my new co-workers." It would be tight as she was supposed to work until five, but she could make that work. She'd just have to hurry home as soon as she could. Home, that word had a nice ring to it. She was home.

After that was decided Avery started talking about how excited she was to meet her teacher and find out who was in her class. And how much she really hoped her best friend, Sydney, was in her class.

"So, there is something else I wanted to talk with you about," Clarke said to Avery as they waited for their dessert to show up. It was a celebration after all.

Knowing where she was going with this, Lexa reached a hand across the table, meeting Clarke's in the middle. She gave it a gentle squeeze in support. Her thumb unconsciously rubbing the ring that now adorned Clarke's ring finger.

"How would you feel if I was home more?" Clarke asked to get the conversation going.

"I would love it, but why?"

"Do you remember Grandma's friend Margie?" Avery nodded her head. "There's a job opening for a doctor in her clinic. They've asked me if I want to take it and I'm planning to tell them yes."

Avery would definitely love to have her mom home more. She worked so much, but she had a pretty good idea what her mom was actually saying. "A doctor, not a surgeon?"

Clarke nodded. She knew Avery would probably catch on to that one. She'd spent enough time in the hospital to recognize the difference in the wording. "Yes, just a doctor, like a family doctor. Since I came home, I don't like how much time I spend at work and away from you and our family. I have been thinking about changing that."

"I think that sounds good. Especially if I get a brother or sister."

Clarke dropped her head onto the table. "Oh my gosh kid. We only just got engaged."

Avery just laughed. It was fun teasing her mom sometimes. But really, she wanted brothers and sisters. So, it was worth a shot.

~CL~

Pulling back into the driveway, Clarke noticed the lights on in the house signally that her mom was home as well. Abby had finally agreed to go out and spend the day with one of her friends. Clarke didn't make a big deal about it, but she was happy her mom was finally getting back to who she used to be. She had finished physical therapy and it was determined she would in fact always need a cane, but she had come so far from where she started.

They found her in the living room watching the news. "Hey girls. What have you been up too?" She greeted before noticing the other person in the room. "Oh, Lexa. This is a surprise."

"Tell me about it," Clarke agreed it.

"Ah, so it really is a surprise," Abby laughed. She didn't think Clarke would keep that information from her, but you never knew.

"A big surprise, but a good one," Clarke turned to Lexa with a smile. She didn't realize that she was subconsciously playing with her ring.

Abby caught the movement though. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked as her eyes stared at her daughter's hand.

Clarke turned from Lexa to lift her hand up and look at the ring again before walking over to her mom and holding out her hand. "It is. Lexa surprised me in more ways than one today."

"You're getting married?"

"We're getting married!" Clarke exclaimed.

Abby pushed herself off the couch and pulled Clarke into a hug, which was instantly returned. "I'm so excited for you." She let go of her daughter and turned to Lexa. "Get over here."

Lexa for her part walked towards Abby with just a bit of hesitation, but as soon as Abby pulled her into a hug, she let herself return it. She wasn't as used to affection from anyone beside Clarke and Avery, so this was still a little new to her. "Welcome to the family" was whispered in her ear before Abby pulled back.

"Have you talked about a date yet?" Abby asked curiously.

Clarke looked at Lexa before turning back to her mom. "No, not yet. Neither of us want a long engagement though. But with us both starting new jobs, it might be tricky."

That caught Abby off guard. "Both?"

Clarke realized she'd slipped up. Not that she wasn't going to tell her mom, just not like that. "I haven't told her yes yet, but Margie and I have been discussing me going to work in her clinic. I wanted to discuss it with Lexa before I made the decision though."

Abby honestly wasn't expecting that. Her daughter had been so concentrated on surgery for so long, just as she had. She could however understand the need for a change if that was what Clarke wanted. "That's something you want?"

Clarke nodded and sat down next to where her mother had previously been sitting. Abby followed her down and Lexa came to sit on the other side of her fiancé. "I thought working in your hospital would be great. I grew up there and I knew so many people. But losing dad in that hospital, it's just too much some days. And that's only one of the reasons that's made me rethink things."

Abby leaned back on the couch and sighed. Sadly, she understood exactly where her daughter was coming from. In a way her injury was almost a blessing because she no longer had to go to work in the place her husband had taken his last breath.

"You know you always have my support, whatever you decide to do."

"I know, mom. That wasn't even a concern."

"Lexa's going to adopt me," Avery broke up the almost somber mood. She didn't want to think about her grandpa. She wanted to be excited about getting another mom.

Abby, once again, turned her eyes on Lexa, causing her to squirm in her seat. She had no idea how the older woman was going to take that news. She had helped raise her granddaughter, after all.

"She is? I take it that you are excited about that?" Abby smiled.

"Yep, she's gonna be my mama." Avery was practically bouncing in her seat.

"That sounds like she loves you a whole lot," Abby told Avery, but she was looking at Lexa the entire time. A silent question in that single stare.

Lexa smiled. "I do. I love her more than anything except for Clarke obviously."

"Good," Abby said as she moved to stand back up. "Just let me know if you all need anything. I'm always here for my girls. All three of them," she finished, placing a hand on Lexa's shoulder. "Now, today was a long day. I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone."

A chorus of 'goodnights' followed as Abby made her way out of the living room, leaving the rest looking back and forth at each other.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Lexa admitted.

Clarke laughed. "You were totally scared of my mom, weren't you?" Lexa gave her a sheepish smile that was all the answer she needed. "Mom loves you. She knew all this would happen sooner or later. We've talked about it."

"Even about me adopting Avery?"

"Of course. I told you, I knew you'd get there eventually." Actually, Abby had been the one to bring it up shortly after their camping trip. She had seen the way Lexa was with Avery. They both knew that eventually Lexa would be ready to accept what they could already see happening. "Mom did too. And she wasn't worried. Especially when I told her we'd be living here indefinitely. I mean this house is big enough for all of us. And even a few more kids, if that happens," Clarke pointed out.

Lexa looked around in thought. She had already figured this house would be their home. There really wasn't reason to move. Not when there were already a few extra rooms and Abby had permanently moved into the room downstairs, leaving the entire upstairs for them. "True."

"Derek and I moved all the rest of Mom's stuff into her room and put my dad's stuff in storage a few weeks ago. I was just waiting for you to move here before taking over the master bedroom. I figured we could redecorate it together."

"I like that idea," Lexa admitted.

Clarke yawned and saw Avery do the same. She imaged Lexa was probably getting pretty tired herself since her body clock was three hours ahead. "Well, I'm thinking it's getting late. Mom probably had the right idea. We can figure more stuff out tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Come on, munchkin," Lexa said as she stood and held a hand out for Avery. "Let's get some sleep. We can spend all day together tomorrow."

"Okay," Avery grudged, but she held Lexa's hand as they made their way upstairs. The girl gave both of her moms a hug before heading into her own room. Clarke knew it wouldn't be long before she was sound asleep.

She pulled Lexa towards their room and shut the door behind them before giving her a passionate kiss. "I freaking love you so much."

"I love you, too. Always."

"You up for me to show you just how much?" She would understand if Lexa was too tired, but she really hoped she wasn't.

"Always," Lexa repeated.

Clarke growled and pushed her down onto the bed. They spent the next several hours getting reacquainted with each other before finally succumbing to sleep. Tomorrow they would start the rest of their lives together as a family.